Inbred lions and tigers killed for sport and Chinese medicine

South African big cat farms are thriving thanks to demand from tourists and traditional Chinese medicine.

The farms house sickly inbred and deformed lions and tigers in cages waiting to be harvested for parts or killed by tourists participating in “canned hunting,” The U.K Sun reports.

Those taking part in a canned hunt kill lions or tigers while they are in a cage and unable to move. Tourists can keep the head as a trophy.

The conditions for the animals are horrific, as images from the World Society for the Protection of Animals show stillborn and deformed cubs packed into tiny cages.

Those that survive have sight and hearing problems and are killed once they reach a certain age.

Canned hunting is so popular that some tourists pay upwards of $30,000 to shoot and kill trapped rare breeds of lions.